Suspect identified by NYPD who 'accosted' officer

The NYPD has identified through a video the man they believe stole the service gun of an officer mugged in the Bronx early Wednesday morning when she was on her way to work in Manhattan, police said.

The officer, 41, who has been with the department 10 years, was reporting to her patrol post at the Manhattan North Precinct when she was assaulted and robbed about 5 a.m. She was in an elevator. Police said the officer, who was not identified, was going down to a parking garage in her building when she was attacked. When the elevator door opened, "she was immediately accosted," NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.

The officer "fought him and they went back and forth in a tug-of-war situation," he said. The attacker, who snatched the officer's gold chain, reached into her bag and took her firearm. Boyce said the mugger also punched the officer in the face and nose. She was taken to Montefiore Hospital, where she is in stable condition, police said.

Boyce said the patrol service bureau will look into whether a police officer should keep a firearm in a bag instead of carrying it on one's person. "That's something for remediation after . . . this investigation," Boyce said.

The suspect was captured on video and identified by the building's superintendent, police said. "We have a very good video," Boyce said, adding he was confident that an arrest would be made soon. Police were canvassing the neighborhood around 226th Street, where the mugger fled on foot. Boyce said the building is in a low-crime area.

The suspect is described as 6 feet tall, 150 pounds, and was wearing a white tank top, dark pants and a watch on his left wrist.